The Return of the Jade Princess
by WishUponAStar1015
Summary: Ariya is back and she is once again thrown into the past. Can she rescue her beloved Monkey King when the Jade Warlord wants nothing but her death and the Monkey King's faithful staff? SM/OC & MK/OC SLOW UPDATE ALERT
1. Prologue

**Yes, so this is for all the people messaging me to see if I was writing a sequal to The Man Behind the Legend. I'm glad that you guys liked the story, and here is the sequal! **

**Warning! SLOW UPDATE ALERT!**

**Disclaimer: In this story, I only own the Jade Princess, Ariya.**

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**The Return of the Jade Princess**

**Prologue**

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_She was floating in nothing but the darkness of the dream world. It was a place she had gone ever since she had returned home from that world. The Jade Princess had no memory of her time in the Middle Kingdom. Only her dreams and the small trinkets she saved from her short time there reminded her of where her true destiny lies._

_Once again the silver haired Princess was dreaming of time she died, not that she would remember…_

_The silver haired girl was floating, watching the scenery around her like a ghost. She was so close to everyone, yet she was still so far away. The Jade Princess, Ariya, could only watch everything play out like some sort of home movie._

_There were sounds of crashing and clangs of metal, echoing as they reached the silver haired girl's ears. She was limp as she desperately struggled to lift her eyelids from her unconscious state. Everything was dark and when she managed to actually lift her eyelids, the blinding light made everything worse. The girl was in a terrible amount of pain and all she wanted was to get down from this stinking wall! Wait… _

_Her eyes snapped open again as she realized that she was actually strapped to a wall. How had she gotten there? When had she gotten there? It had definitely been after she was pricked with the dart…but the silver haired Princess didn't understand._

_She struggled as hard as she could, but the Princess flinched when she suddenly heard cruel laughter next to her ear. The silver haired girl jerked her head to the left and saw that evil bastard of a Warlord standing next to her. Oh, her fiancé would so make him pay._

_The Princess pushed her head far away from him and blinked in surprise when she saw a fruit being thrown at the Warlord's head. It was kind of amusing. She looked up and smiled, happy that the Monkey King had come for her…if she could even figure out how she was strapped to the wall in the first place. Gah, this was so frustrating! The Princess hated being the damsel in distress._

_She was about to call out for him, but she stopped seeing as he was concentrating very hard on the battle. It was weird; she had never seen WuKong so concentrated on something…unless the Princess was in danger. The silver haired girl didn't feel like she was in danger, but maybe he felt like she was. Oh, she knew what's coming next; it's exactly like that premonition that she saw. _

_The silver haired girl felt like she would only get in his way seeing that he was in such a heated battle. Suddenly, the Warlord suggested that they fight without weapons and without chi magic. Sure, like the Monkey King would believe that…would he? He was so damn trusting! The girl wanted to cry out, but soon realized that she couldn't or he would lose his concentration._

_The Monkey King shoved his trusted metal staff down into the ground, and was about to take position, but stopped when he saw that the Warlord had hidden a knife in his sleeve pocket. He was going to step forward but…no! It was too late; he had already shoved the knife into the silver haired girl's chest. She didn't feel much at first due to the shock of being stabbed, but the pain hit suddenly and forcefully. _

_The Princess gasped as she felt a searing pain in her chest, pulsating with every beat of her heart. It was agonizing. The girl looked down in a sort of daze, not believing what she was seeing. Suddenly, the restraints were loosened and she fell to the ground in a shaking heap. It was obvious that she was becoming weak. Her hands flew up to the knife lodged in her chest as a pair of strong arms wrapped around her shoulders. The person – who everyone else saw as the Monkey King - tried to lift her very gently, but each movement of her body was excruciating._

_The silver haired girl looked up in a daze, looking up into the distraught eyes of the one she loved. He lightly shook her shoulders, but gave a light cry as the girl collapsed in his arms. She just couldn't hold herself up any longer. He turned the silver haired girl over on her back and placed her head in his lap, lightly gripping the knife and tugging it from her chest. _

_Once the knife was dislodged from the girl's chest the blood could flow freely, causing him to tear up. He knew that she was going to die, but he didn't want to face the truth. He was always like that…so carefree. It was one of the reasons why she loved him. He bunched up the tough material of his belt and pressed it to the grotesque wound, but it didn't help. _

"_Sun…Wu…Kong" the girl whispered ever so quietly, taking one of his hands in hers. It was so quiet that only her Snowflake was able to hear it. She had said his name. The girl brought the other hand up to his face, cupping his cheek and her eyes started to glaze with unshed tears. _

"_Be happy…for me…" she whispered…and then…she died._

_The area around the Jade Princess – the one who had been watching her death with wide eyes – went dark. There was no sound, no light…no anything._

_Just as she was about to give into the darkness, a gentle older voice came drifting through the darkness. Another movie seemed to play out in front of her, this time with no sound. Instead, the gentle older voice told her what was going on._

"_My dear, sweet daughter. Your life is just beginning to turn to us once again." He cooed and the silver haired girl felt a warm presence behind her. She looked, of course, but there was nothing there. She turned back to the image before her and watched as the same man from her previous vision – the white haired man – jumped back away from her still body. He growled in obvious hate, clothing stained with her blood._

"_The Monkey King wanted nothing more than to avenge your death, but he was tricked." The older gentle voice sighed. It was almost like the voice was disappointed over something. She watched at the white haired man – the Monkey King – cast away the two metal staffs that she had seen._

"_In order to preserve his power and the power of his love he cast away the staffs…but he also cast away a servant." He said. It was then that she saw the hair glinting against the metal of his staff._

_She watched, horrified, as the Monkey King was turned to stone and her body burned in a proper burial. The people of the Jade Palace mourned her death, but what the older man said next really struck a nerve._

"_My dearest…you are ready to come home. Only you and Jason have the power to free the Monkey King from his prison." He said. Suddenly, it was like she was shocked…_

The silver haired girl jumped, falling off of her bed as she jerked awake from her dream. Ariya had been having the same dream for the past six weeks. Every night it had been the same. The same people. The same message. The same sorrow. The same strange feeling she got in her chest at the sight of the Monkey King becoming trapped in stone.

It had been six months since the day she had gotten the phone call from Jason, her dear younger brother. Nothing could have made her happier than to have that bastard of a father arrested and convicted of several years in a federal prison. It turns out he had been a drug dealer as well! What are the odds of that?

The silver haired girl got to her feet, a hand to her head and her other hand on the wall to help steady her. This was her routine after every time she had the dream. She went to her desk and quietly opened the drawer – it squeaked quite a bit and Jason's room was next to hers – in order to retrieve a small bottle. Inside was a white hair. It wasn't just any white hair…it was the same kind of hair that floated in the wind against the staff in her dream.

It was proof enough that her dream was real even though she hardly remembered a thing.

Yet, this wasn't the only proof that she had from her time in the Middle Kingdom. She reached underneath her shirt to pull out a small jade leaf. It was beautifully carved and a small, almost invisible, hole was drilled into the base of the leaf so that it could be made into a necklace. The small jade object had a black ribbon running through it, convincing the girl that everything that she had been dreaming of had been true.

She had died, but she had died for the man she loved…even if she didn't remember him. And she knew that one thing was for certain. The time when she released him from his stone cage was drawing near.

The return of the Jade Princess was near at hand.


	2. The Staffs of Legend

**Hey, guys. I wanted to get this out before I had my wisdom teeth removed tomorrow. =D I tried my hardest to decipher what they said in the movie, but y'know...Hop - or we know him as Ancient Lu Yan - mumbles a bit so I omitted some of the things he said.**

**Thanks to:**

**Ebony eyed wolf - Glad you think so! I can't wait to work on this story a bit more, but I gotta work on the others too, y'know. I really need to buckle down on just one, but then I get an idea for one of the others...lol**

**wolviegurl - hey there! Been a while, eh? Yeah, I've been meaning to get this out for a while now...I've just been so busy! My apologies.**

**Elisea - Aww, thanks. I particularly like my writing style as well, although this one is most likely going to stay in third person. I was experimenting with the first person in the last story.**

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**Chapter One**

**The Staffs of Legend**

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The silver haired girl sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Now that she was awake there was no way that she would be able to get back to sleep. Instead, she got dressed in a flowing knee length green dress with a black sash tied around her waist. Black flats were on her feet and she tied her hair back with a black ribbon. She hadn't been able to find a nice martial arts dojo in Boston so what was the point of braiding her hair?

Although sometimes she would climb to the roof of some of the nearby apartment buildings and would practice with her wooden bo staff. A rush of feelings would hit her then and she felt like she had done something like that before…but she couldn't remember where. The silver haired girl shook her head free of the memories and took the ribbon that held the small jade leaf. Tying it around her neck, she felt oddly safe. The necklace held some sort of meaning, but she just shrugged it aside. If she was meant to remember then she would remember eventually.

In the room next to hers Ariya's brother, Jason, slept peacefully. Contrary to her neat room, his room was covered with martial arts posters, Asian legend posters, and one odd Boston Bruins poster. There were figurines lining the dressers and such and there were memorabilia items strewn across the floor. The teenager in the bed twitched more than once. It was obvious that he was having a dream. After a few moments, Ariya appeared in the doorway to his room. She was going to wake him up, but after she saw how messy the room was she decided to tidy the room a little bit.

After ten minutes of picking up dirty laundry her little brother woke with a start.

"Are you okay, Jason?" she asked in a quiet voice, concern lacing her voice. He looked around with a strange expression before nodding his head. He stretched and maneuvered himself into a sitting position.

"I had a dream about the Monkey King again…and that same staff…" he mumbled before running a hand through his hair. He looked towards the television, which was playing some old movie that had to do with the Monkey King – Ariya noticed that the Monkey King was a reoccurring theme with her brother – and turned it off before he went to the bathroom to get ready.

"Are we still going to Lu Yan's Pawn Shop today?" she questioned him as she straightened up the sheets on his bed. He constantly told her that she didn't need to clean up, but she had been doing it for the better part of her life. It would be a difficult task to break the habit her father had instilled within her.

"Yeah. I wanna check the new movies he's got." Came the muffled reply. The silver haired girl giggled at his half-asleep tone and went downstairs to await her brother. Less than an hour later the two of them had eaten breakfast and they were on their way to Chinatown. Jason was peddling a bike and Ariya was sitting sideways on the extra seat on the back, hanging onto her brother for dear life.

Soon enough the two of them arrived at the shop in Chinatown. The silver haired girl smiled – she had become friends with the old man. They shared a similar interest with Chinese antiques and he would often share with her the legends of his home country. As Jason parked the bike, the silver haired girl jumped off and closed her eyes as classical Chinese opera music filled her ears. A small grin formed across her mouth and she gave a sigh – it was truly a delight whenever she got to visit Hop. He was the grandson of Lu Yan, the original owner.

"Hello, Hop!" she exclaimed as she entered the shop. He was counting money behind the counter and when Jason came into the shop – in order to browse for knockoff movies she supposed – he stopped counting the money.

"What's going on, Hop?" Jason questioned as he did, indeed, head to the movie section of the pawn shop. Ariya clucked her tongue and shook her head. She knew it. Her brother was one weird person.

"Ah, you back again?" Hop questioned Jason after he gave Ariya one of his rare smiles. He was an old man, after all, and he had seen quite a bit in his old life. He stuffed his money into an old coffee can and put crinkled paper on top of the money so the change wouldn't jingle. He trusted the silver haired girl and put the money away. He knew that she wouldn't steal from him. She proved it time and again when she came to help him in the shop.

"Oh, sick." The brunette teenager suddenly said. Ariya just shook her head and went to go look at the figurines and the authentic costumes. Some of them were really elaborate and beautiful. Sometimes Hop would let her try them on in order to air them out. If she could she would buy the whole rack and then wear the clothing every day!

"Find good one?" she heard the old man question as she perused the rack of clothing. As she looked through the clothing she saw something on the jewelry table. It was a jade leaf that looked suspiciously like the one she wore on the ribbon around her neck. She reached out to touch it as she heard Jason's voice in the background.

"Yeah…Ten Tigers of Kwangtung…" he trailed off in disbelief, "This is gold." He said. Ariya spared a glance in their direction. She spied Hop taking a drink from an elaborate silver flask, but decided not to say anything. He was an old man who had seen a lot in his lifetime and he deserved something for his trouble. Liquor was hardly anything to someone as old as Hop…he was like…probably somewhere in his nineties!

As she turned around she heard Jason swoon over his movies once again.

"Oh!" he exclaimed in excitement, "Bride with White Hair!" he exclaimed as he most likely grabbed the DVD from the shelf.

"Chinese – no subtitles!" he almost squealed as she tried not to laugh at his voice. It would only embarrass him. Ariya turned away from the jade leaf and made her way to the back. There were some other pieces of jewelry that caught her attention. Perhaps she could buy her mother an early birthday present.

"Hey Hop?" she heard her brother's voice once again, "You got any early Shaw Brothers?" there's a guy that does leopard style that I…" he was cut off as the old man laughed at him. The silver haired girl was amused as well. Her brother was almost obsessed with Kung Fu, but he had never noticed that she was trained in it.

"Leopard Style, Dragon Style. Fire on Water. Crouching Tiger, Spanking Monkey." The old man laughed at him once again in his harsh way. She wondered how much abuse, or most likely alcohol, he had put it through.

"I know you. Another white boy who wants know Kung Fu. Kick ass! Get the girls." And with that the silver haired girl couldn't hold in her laughter.

"Shut it!" Jason exclaimed as he heard his older sister's laughter. She turned around and was suddenly hit by an intense emotion. She could tell that Jason could feel the same emotion coming from the back room as he came to stand beside her. It was almost as if something were calling out to them. Jason slowly walked to the back room and the silver haired girl slowly followed after, looking around the back room for the first time.

Jason looked to the floor, enraptured, and crouched down to pick up to pick up a discarded yellow-bronze staff. The heads of the staff had been carved to show monkeys of different style. Ariya lightly touched the bronzed staff with a feeling of déjà vu. She had seen that exact staff before – she had touched the staff before. She had known the wielder and owner of the staff!

Another staff caught her attention. It was leaning up against the wall of the shop – it was the one that had been calling to her. It sounded as if it had been calling to her very soul. Once she had picked it up it was as if everything clicked into place. She twirled the shimmering staff around – careful of the small spikes on the end so that it wouldn't injure her brother – and nearly cried. It was like reuniting with an old friend.

Suddenly, Hop interrupted the two of them. The silver haired girl snapped from her thoughts and jumped, whirling around to face the old shop keeper.

"Only storage back here." He said, hobbling forth to greet the two once again.

"Where did you get these?" Jason asked in awe. Ariya stepped forward, holding out her staff. It wasn't hers. It was Hops. She couldn't just act like it rightfully belonged to her no matter how much the staff felt like it belonged in her hands.

"Hitokiri…" she muttered as if just remembering the name of some old friend.

"This…" he motioned towards the staff in Jason's hands, "…was here…when my grandfather opened this shop. Hundred years ago…he waited for a man to pick up…" he reached out to take the staff from Jason. The poor teenager looked like he was going to cry because the old man took away his child. Hop reached up to the best of his ability and put the staff on a holder on top of a worn dresser.

"Return to rightful owner..." he continued with the story, "…man never came. My father take over shop. Waited, too…long time…now me." he finished with a sad air around him. He turned to Ariya and she willingly gave over the staff no matter how much it hurt to part with it.

"This one…belong to Princess of Jade Kingdom…beloved of other staff owner. Some say she die…some say disappear…never came." He said before taking the staff and placing it on the second staff that was up on top of the worn dresser. She looked at the staff with a surprised expression. The mysterious voice in her dreams had called her a Jade Princess…what did that mean? Did that staff really belong to her? Was she some sort of reincarnation and was having dreams of the past? There was nothing to explain what she was experiencing so she just kept quiet. Perhaps she could come back and ask Hop some more questions about his father. Maybe he had some answers.

"They're northern temple style Bo staffs." Jason said, surprising the silver haired girl. But, then again, he was a buff in anything martial arts…except in the execution of said martial arts maneuvers. "The same kind the Thirteen Monks used to save the Tang Emperor." He continued, now starting to ramble. He would have said more, but then a weird glint entered his eye.

"I've…seen it before…that exact one." He said, referring to the one with the monkeys on it, "I've had dreams about it." He continued in a faraway voice. The silver haired girl started – he had been having dreams about it? Since when? Hop didn't seem to think anything about it. He just seemed to laugh it off, ushering the two of them back into the main part of the shop.

"You know why. You watch too much Hong Kong fui." He waved off, "Come. Come on." He led them back to where the main part of the shop met with the front door. "I give you five awesome movie…for very sick price."

Both of them just followed in a sort of daze.

"You the man, Hop." Jason said, definitely out of it.

What in the world had just happened back there?


	3. The Bullies

**Right, sorry this took so long to get out, but I had my wisdom teeth removed and blah blah blah - took a lot of time for me to feel better since I had a bad reaction to the pain meds or the antibiotics or something. Anyway, here's the next chapter...I tried to interperate what the greaser/hood guy was saying as accurately as I could =D**

**Thanks to:**

**Nora Rose Evans - Aww, well thank you.**

**PureAngelEyes - I'm glad that you like the sequal =D**

**cheshirecat900 - lol glad you like the story!**

**wolviegurl - Well, yeah, I was always going to write it lol I just needed some inspiration first. I've been having SO SO many ideas for other stories go through my head I just can't concentrate on one. **

**Ebony eyed wolf - lol glad you think that Ariya blends well. **

**Oh! PLEASE VOTE ON MY NEW POLL! This is to tell me what I need to work on the plot, outline, and OCs for the story, not to actually work on next, but I'd like to know...y'know?**

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**Chapter Two**

**The Bullies**

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Both Ariya and Jason managed to find at least one thing they wanted to buy from the shop. Jason bought a couple of DVDs while the silver haired girl found a nice pair of training shoes in her size. They fit exceptionally well and the old shop owner literally grinned when she paid for them. Perhaps it was because she had bought something from the shop…or perhaps it was because he knew that she practiced the martial art of his native country. Either way she exited the shop with a bright smile on her face.

Minutes later the two of them were travelling down a semi-busy road in front of several large buildings. It resembled a school, but Ariya had never been there before so she didn't know exactly what it was. She was once again riding on the back of her brother's bike, but, even though she said she could walk home, her brother insisted that he didn't mind. He actually seemed like he was proud to be her mode of transportation.

Suddenly, as they were biking along the sidewalk, a teenage girl called out Jason's name. Ariya curiously looked over his shoulder as the dark haired girl walked over to the two of them.

"Jason!" the girl called again as the bike came to a stop.

"Hey. What's up?" she questioned, eying the silver haired girl from the back of Jason's bike, "Who's that?" she commented, eyes narrowing. Jason looked back and forth between the two girls, worried that they were going to start a fight or something. When it became evident that Jason wasn't going to say anything, Ariya took the opportunity to introduce herself.

"I'm Ariya, Jason's older sister." She quietly said, holding out a hand for the girl to shake. The other girl just looked at her, noticing the distinct and unusual color of her hair.

"Nice hair." She said, commenting on the older girl's starry colored tresses.

"Thanks." Ariya quietly said as she lowered her hand. She was feeling slightly insulted that the girl neither took her hand after she introduced herself nor did she give her name. What was Ariya supposed to call her if she never gave her name?

"What's up?" she questioned again, looking back towards Jason and acting like Ariya wasn't there. The older girl just sighed and looked away before dismounting the seat on the bike. She leaned up against the wall, half listening to the conversation her brother was having and half keeping an eye out on the activity around them. Unfortunately, she was looking in the opposite direction that trouble was heading from.

"Nothin' much." She heard her brother reply to the girl's question, "Just, y'know, cruisin'." He replied, motioning towards his bike. The dark haired girl's eyes narrowed as she looked back towards Ariya.

"Cruisin' with ya sister?" she questioned, making sure that the girl was, indeed, his sister. It was silent for a few moments and it was then that Ariya started to feel a little bit out of place. Jason would have a better time flirting with the dark haired girl then if she were there…but for some reason she couldn't shake the feeling that something was about to happen.

"You've been to Chinatown." The girl said, nodding to the basket. Jason's movies and Ariya's training shoes were wrapped neatly in a bag. "What's up with that?" the girl continued, raising her eyebrows as she waited for the brunette boy to answer her question.

"Oh…uh…" the awkward teenager stumbled over his words. He was trying to act cool, but since he was still stuck in that kind of awkward phase…it wasn't working too well.

"Kung Fu." He blurted out, catching the attention of his sister. What did he know about Kung Fu? It was one of the hardest forms of martial arts to master simply because it, in itself, had several forms and techniques derived from one art. It seemed to do the trick with the girl because she beckoned over a couple of her friends and they 'awed' over his 'knowledge of Kung Fu'.

"Are you serious?" the same dark haired girl asked as the silver haired girl quietly scoffed to herself. Yeah, he could talk about it all he wanted, but could he even perform half of the techniques he was talking about? It wasn't in her nature to be this irritable, but Ariya just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen. Something that was going to change her life all over again…just when she got used to living with Jason and her mother.

"Not supposed to talk about it." Jason said nonchalantly. Perhaps he was just trying to cover up his racing heart, but he was doing pretty well for an awkward teenager. "Not under the Kung Fu Code." And then he just blew it. Ariya had been practicing this particular martial art for most of her life and she had never heard of any code. There were certain rules that one had to follow, yes, but it was never called a 'Code'.

Suddenly, the bad feeling that the silver haired girl had intensified tenfold. She jerked around just as a greaser guy came sauntering up to her brother. She stepped forward, but then paused. She wanted to see how her little brother would handle himself in this kind of situation. If it got too rough, then she would step in and kick some ass.

"Hey, dork." He greeted, roughly placing his hands on the handlebars of Jason's bike, "Hey, new kid's makin' time with the hoodses." He continued, not recognizing Jason. It was most likely because of the fact that this was the first time he had actually stopped to talk to someone in this neighborhood.

"T-boy." He said, catching everyone's attention once again. Ariya waited with baited breath…if he laid a hand on her brother then she would shove his hand right up his ass.

"You still ridin' this loser cruiser? You can't even get a motor for this shit." And with that he grabbed the bags with stuff from Lu Yan's Shop – Hop's shop was still named after his grandfather – and started rifling through it. "What we got here?" he questioned, staring at the DVDs and the training shoes with a dumbfounded expression on his face.

"Just some bootlegs, no big deal." The awkward teenager stuttered out. It was time that Ariya cut in. those shoes belonged to her, after all. She paid for them fair and square.

"Excuse me." she said, cutting in. The greaser boy turned and immediately smirked at the girl's exotic features. He thought he was going to get lucky tonight.

"Yeah, babe?" he questioned, lowering the DVDs. Ariya smiled sweetly at him, despite Jason's attempts at pushing her behind him since he still didn't know that she practiced the martial art he was bragging about – and lightly jerked her arm out of her brother's grasp.

"I believe those shoes belong to me." she said, nodding her head towards the training shoes. She snatched them from the greaser's grasp and tried to get the DVDs but the greaser boy anticipated her movements.

"End of the Dragon? The Bride with White Hair?" he questioned, reading the titles as he smoothly moved away from the silver haired girl. She only sighed and replaced her shoes with the training ones. That way she would be ready if she had to fight. She only wished she had some sort of staff with her.

"Yeah…it's actually very good." He was cut off when another one of the greaser boys knocked him off of the bike.

"Hey!" Ariya exclaimed.

"Hey, let him go!" another one of the girls commented as the first dark haired girl only smirked.

"Yeah, don't. He knows Kung Fu." And at this comment Ariya's eyebrow started to twitch. Why in the seven levels of hell did this girl decide to egg the greaser boy on? As she stood staring at the smirking dark haired girl, the greaser boy decided to start a fight with her little brother.

"What?" the greaser guy laughed, "You think you're Chinese?" he taunted, coming forward and getting up in Jason's face. Ariya stepped forward and got in the boy's way, narrowing his eyes as he disregarded her like she was nothing.

"You hangin' out with the skanks in C-town? What's up with you?" he continued, backing Jason into a corner as he shoved Ariya out of the way. She growled – nobody manhandled her like that.

"Let's see some. Come on." He lightly slapped Jason in the face as he and his cronies laughed. "Come on. Let's see some Kung Fu, eh? Kung Fu master." He continued laughing as if he were having a grand time making fun of the teenager in front of him. Jason was utterly mortified and Ariya had had enough.

"That's enough." She quietly said, glaring at the boys. They either ignored her or they just didn't her hear quiet voice.

"Huh? Huh? Want some Tai Kwan Do?" he then moved as he was going to walk away before suddenly performing a roundhouse kick. He kicked Jason in the chest and he went flying back into the concrete wall.

"That's enough!" Ariya yelled as she dashed forward. Nobody beat up on her brother. She slid in front of her brother as the greaser guy was going to perform a second kick – this time to Jason's head – and caught his leg, twisting it so that he was thrown to the ground. He tried to kick her legs out from underneath her, but she just leapt into the air, twisting to the side to avoid his feet.

"You want Kung Fu? You'll get Kung Fu." She growled at the guy before she dashed forward. He had gotten to his feet only to be knocked down by a roundhouse kick of Ariya's doing. She flipped forward as he tried to get up, grabbing his shoulders and completing a handstand as she twisted behind him and elbowed him in the back, but, before she could do anything else, another male suddenly interrupted their fight.

"Hey! You do anything else to Lupo and he'll get it!" the guy exclaimed in a slightly frightened manner. She turned around and eyes narrowed as she saw that the second boy had Jason in his grasp. She sighed, not wanting anything to happen to her brother. She released her fighting stance and stood up straight, glaring at the greaser boys.

"Yo, Lupo. They're hangin' out with that old chink – cashes checks." The second boy said as he showed the 'leader' the bag the movies and shoes came in.

"You in tight with the old man?" this 'Lupo' asked them. Ariya refused to say anything and Jason was too terrified to say anything, but it was then that her bad feeling suddenly made sense. Something was going to happen to Hop tonight.


	4. Raiding Hop's Shop

**I know, I know. Short chapter, right? I'm trying here. Please forgive me 'cause I have this major month/two-month long project that I have to do with a non-profit organization and I'll hardly be on the computer for ANY of my stories. **

**Thanks to:**

**Springflowerangel - Aww, thanks. I hoped you liked the first part (The Man Behind the Legend) as well.**

**PureAngelEyes - Yeah, I'm feeling better, thanks =D and I'll try to update soon!**

**wolviegurl - Aww, thanks for the review =P**

**The Candy Spooky Theater - Glad that you like my story XD**

**Please take time to vote on my poll as well. I'm having a hard time deciding what to write next so there are some choices out of the some 150+ story ideas I've got floating around in my head.**

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**Chapter Three**

**Raiding Hop's Shop**

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Ariya frowned heavily as she was shoved forward. She would have turned around to give the one who shoved her a piece of her mind, but the silver haired woman was mindful of the fact that her brother was being held at gunpoint.

It had taken quite a while to lead them to Hop's shop. The two siblings had silently agreed to make the goons as lost and confused as possible – it was their hope that they would somehow be able to disappear and run to the police. But, that was before the lead goon had threatened Jason by shoving the gun to Ariya's temple.

The teenager had screamed like wounded puppy, pleading with Lupo not to hurt his sister. The silver haired girl couldn't say that she was disappointed in him. They didn't even know that the other existed until recently. It was common sense that Jason didn't want to lose her now, to Lupo of all people.

It was night now and the hooligans had finally convinced, or more like forced, Jason and Ariya to lead them to Hop's shop. The two were pushed and yanked back to their feet many times. The silver haired girl couldn't count how many times she wanted to rip someone's arm off, but she couldn't. She didn't want to take the chance that her brother could be hurt.

"Just shut up and do it." Lupo hissed quietly as the small group approached the back door of Hop's shop. Ariya grunted angrily and managed to stomp on the foot of the guy holding her, but with one look at the gun tucked away in Lupo's belt she settled down again. The silver haired girl did, however, cross her arm and refuse to talk to any of them.

"It's late, man." Jason said in a nervous and pleading tone. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he could tell that it was going to be something horrible.

"He's probably gone home." He, of course, was lying to Lupo. Hop couldn't go home due to the fact that he lived in the back of the shop. Lupo just glared at him and jerked Ariya to the front, motioning for Jason to knock on the back door. He did so and there was no sound for a couple of moments.

"He's most likely sleeping at home." Ariya bit out in a defiant tone. She hated men like Lupo – he reminded her of a man from her dreams. A Warlord to be precise. After a few more moments of silence, Jason turned to the thugs.

"He's not here." He pleaded again with sad eyes, "Let's just go." But as he said this, the sound of a lock scraping away from its old hinges reached their ears. The door opened to reveal a chain and a withered old face. The face of Hop.

"Who's there?" Hop questioned, squinting his eyes. He could barely see to begin with, but the night air made it worse. He took in a deep breath, smelling the air and listening for sounds. Suddenly, he smelt the familiar lotus smell of Ariya's perfume and the somewhat stinky sweat of Jason.

"Ah…Kung Fu boy? Lotus Princess?" he called Ariya a Lotus Princess because she was interested in the royal families of ancient China, plus she smelt like Lotus blossoms in the spring.

"You back for more good price movie and Kung Fu clothes? Jewelry?" he laughed in a soft tone, not knowing that they had company. Lupo and his goons were standing far enough away that he could not smell them.

"I told you. Best dealer in China Town." He chuckled again with a bright smile, eager for more business no matter the time. "Come in. Want some tea?" Ariya sighed. Hop always made the best green tea. Sometimes he even put in a little ginseng and honey just for her although it wasn't his favorite. Hop was like the grandfather she never had…but he reminded her of another older man from a dream of hers.

Jason went through the door when Hop finished fumbling with the chain. Ariya, however, resisted until one of the goons literally shoved her through the door. The goons followed in after the girl, but Hop was too far away to smell or hear what was going on.

"Red Sox game is on." He said in his dearly beloved gravelly voice. "Yankees win. Very bad."

The old man bends down to fiddle with the teacups when he smells Lupo's scent. The scent of the other goons does not escape his senses, but the old man decides to play dumb. Something was wrong, but he had to play dumb for the sake of his friends slash customers. Ariya couldn't help the tears that started to well in her eyes. She felt guilty for the whole situation. If it weren't for Lupo's gun she would have kicked all of their asses!

"Who's with you?" Hop questioned, looking up with a soft smile. His eyes were looking out into the distance, a sure sign of his near blindness, "Friends?"

But they were not friends. Hop frowned at the sound of Ariya's sob.

"Where d'ya keep the cash?" Lupo growled as he shoved the silver haired girl to the side. She rammed into the dresser that had the staffs on top of it, knocking down the golden one. It was the same one that Jason was admiring earlier that day.

Hop turns around in confusion, not having been in this situation before. Lupo rushes forward and grabs the front of the old man's pajamas. He walks Hop back and rams him into another dresser, shaking him for good measure. Ariya screwed her eyes shut – she couldn't bear watching this for another second.

"I said: where do you keep the cash?" Lupo growled again, not in the mood for playing games. He shook the old man once again for good measure, but everyone was transfixed by the goon's attitude.

"Please." Hop pleaded with the man not to hurt him or to destroy his shop, but, of course, Lupo wouldn't listen to him.

"Come on, old man!" Lupo exclaimed, patience wearing thin. He turned around at a noise that one of his henchmen made, glaring at Jason and Ariya.

"Stay here." He ordered them, sending a smirk to the silver haired girl. Jason had moved from his standing position to crouching by his sister, a hand on her shoulder. She was seething, getting ready to tear Lupo to pieces if it weren't for that blasted gun he had!

Hop looked beseechingly at the two of them while Jason looked on helplessly. He wasn't brave like his sister, who finally decided she was going to kick Lupo's ass with or without the gun. As Hop picked up the golden staff, she reached up and drew the one with the familiar feel to it from its stand. She smiled wistfully for some reason before moving to the other room, Hop right behind her.

"Ariya, no! What are you doing?" Jason hissed. She ignored him, however, and crept up behind one of the hooligans.

"Hey…found ya X-box…" one of the other ones said. At the same time, she and Hop smashed their respective staffs into the head of their targets, but what she didn't expect was that Lupo actually shot the two of them. He hit hop right in the chest while she was hit in the shoulder. He had pretty good aim for someone who wasn't paying attention.

The silver haired girl managed to stumble back to Jason as the old man fell into her brother's arms.

"Hop!"

"Oh no…" both of them said at the same time. Jason looked like he was going to burst out crying, especially when he saw the blood soaked skin of his sister's shoulder. Lupo looked slightly shocked that he had used the gun, but his followers were definitely taken aback.

"Jesus Lupo!" one of them exclaimed, looking like he wanted to go over and help them.

"What the hell, man?" another of them yelled, glaring at his 'leader.'

"You shot them!" the third looked appalled that Lupo shot an old man and a female. As Lupo was getting yelled at, Ariya and Jason were listening to Hop.

"Take it…" he wheezed, shoving the staff in Jason's arms. He smiled at Ariya before turning back to Jason again. The silver haired female couldn't help it. She started to cry once more.

"Must return to rightful owner…run…run!"

Finally, Jason looked up at Lupo, hate in his eyes.

"You didn't see that, yo. You didn't see that!" Lupo shouted as he started towards the three. Both siblings looked at each other before grabbing their respective staffs and taking off, hoping that someone had called the police and an ambulance would come for Hop.


	5. The Power of the Staffs

**Righto, here is chapter four. Please vote on my newest poll (all you have to do is choose the ten you like best out of the twenty) but I won't work on those for a long, long time.**

**Thanks to:**

**PureAngelEyes - lol yes, I'm back. It'll still be a slow update story, but I also apologize that this chapter was a bit short**

**springflowerangel - squee, I'm glad you thought the chapter was awesome**

**wolviegurl - next chapter comes ancient China! =D**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter Four**

**The Power of the Staffs**

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"Jason, come on! Don't worry about me, just run!" Ariya exclaimed as she heard the goons run after them. The silver haired girl couldn't remember a time when she had been so scared – not for her own safety, but for the safety of her brother. Lupo would probably shoot her again on the spot, but he would take his time torturing her brother. And even then…he would probably shoot her brother just to make sure he wouldn't go to the police.

Yes, it was safe to say that Ariya was extremely scared for her brother's wellbeing. She pushed Jason out of the door in front of her and kicked the door shut behind her in one fluid movement. It would give them precious seconds while Lupo had to open the door once again.

"Don't look back, just run!" she shrieked again as she pushed her brother in front of her. If she knew that she would have to run this much today, she would have dressed in one of her training outfits. Well, actually, if she knew she would have to be doing this much running, she wouldn't have agreed to go downtown near the school anyway. She should have made Jason pedal directly home.

"In the door!" she directed as the two raced across the street. They started running up the staircase just as Lupo and his gang members came tearing out the door and across the alleyway behind them.

"You little shit!" the two of them heard Lupo yell. If it had been any other situation, Ariya would have either laughed or she would have kicked Lupo's ass for cussing at her little brother.

"Keep going." The silver haired girl gasped out as they continued to climb another four flights of stairs. Jason burst out of the staircase at the top of the staircase just as Ariya ducked another bullet. Lupo had shot at her due to his rage.

"Don't stop!" she told her brother, seeing another roof that was a jumpable distance. Jason, however, decided that he could make the jump and skidded to a stop at the edge of the building. Ariya had no choice but to stop behind him. Her arm was throbbing and the material of her clothing had been dyed a bright red, but she didn't let that distract her from protecting her one and only brother.

"Jason, you have to jump." She said, pointing to the building beside them.

"No." he refused, shaking his head, "There is no way that I'm going to jump." He continued, but by then their chance had gone. Lupo and his gang were behind them and he was pointing his gun at them.

The two were at a dead end.

"Lupo, man, c'mon…just don't!" the scared boy pleaded with the gangster. He cowered with the staff held in front of him. It was as if Jason were hoping that Lupo would stop just because he wielded the staff.

Lupo, however, was too angry to be talked to. He wouldn't see reason even when the silver haired girl came forward to talk reason with him.

"Lupo…you know we won't talk." She started, but the head gangster just started to stalk closer to them. His hand still held the gun, but it was trembling. It was like he was both furious and terrified of the situation.

"You didn't see nothin." The lead gangster calmly stated as he came to a halt in front of the terrified siblings. Ariya made sure that she was in front of her brother just in case Lupo went to shoot her.

"Lupo…we didn't see anything. We promise." She said cautiously, "You already shot me. I understand that this is serious." She said with one hand releasing her staff and coming up to calmly say that she meant no harm.

"Hey calm down, Lupo." One of his flunkies said, eyes darting to Ariya's injured shoulder.

"Hey, chill man, c'mon." another one of his flunkies said, "Put the gun do…" he was cut off by Lupo.

"Shut up!" he exclaimed, eyes looking around wildly, "Maybe I pulled the trigger, but we're all in this together!" he continued to shout, waving his gun around. The silver haired girl was incredibly lucky that it didn't accidentally fire.

"But this little cockroach…he aint one of us…and his sister is a right pain in the ass!" he said. It was right after that that something stirred in the air. It was mystical feeling – one she had felt before. She didn't know where she had felt it before, but it was just so familiar!

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a strange glint. It was like time slowed down in the normal realm. Lupo and his cronies froze, but Jason was being pushed back by the strange staff.

"Ariya…what…what's going on?" Jason managed to gasp out as the staff pushed him backwards. His feet got caught on the edge of the building and the next thing either of the siblings knew was that he had been pushed over the edge.

"Jason!" she screamed, jerking forward to see if she could catch her brother's hand. She had a sense of déjà vu – she remembered falling off of something of great height and then…someone had been both reaching and screaming for her.

The silver haired girl reached out for his hand, but their fingers barely brushed each other. They were shocked and Jason let out a mighty scream, but right before Jason hit the ground his body disappeared.

Actually, it didn't look like his body disappeared. His body turned transparent and was absorbed into the ground in a smoky and hazy mass in the matter of seconds. It was weird.

Suddenly, it was like time sped forward again.

"Whoa, whoa! Where'd the punk go?" Lupo exclaimed as the rest of them peered over the edge of the building.

"He's gone." She whispered, not believing what she just saw. Was it even possible for her brother to just disappear like that? That stuff only happened in like…dreams, movies, books, and comics…right?

"Whaddya mean he's 'gone'?" Lupo growled at her, pushing her out of the way from the edge of the building. With tears in her eyes, she took her chance and ran back through the door and down the stairs. She felt strangely at peace when she heard the goon's yelling for her. The silver haired girl only managed to make it through two more doors, up another, higher, flight of stairs, across three roofs, and a fire escape before she was cornered once again.

"Now, girl. I'm tired with you!" Lupo wheezed out, pointing the gun at her in a shaking hand, "Gimme one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you." He said. The silver haired girl just looked at him with a sad expression. If she was shot, there would be a possible chance that she would have a long and painful death. There was the option of jumping off the roof…

And that was what she decided.

The goons behind her yelled and Lupo shouted, not believing that she would actually jump off a roof, but she stepped up on top of the guard rail. She gave Lupo one last smile, one she hoped would haunt him till the rest of time.

Then, she spread her arms wide, her staff still in one hand, and leaned back into the wind. She closed her eyes, expecting a painful impact and death, or a slow death by landing on something, but she felt nothing.

The silver haired girl opened her eyes, but all she saw was darkness.

"_My dearest. It is time to come home." _

And then all she saw was a flash of light and felt a sharp pain in her chest.

She was returning home.


	6. The Other World

**Ooh, I know...this is a bit shorter than I'd like it to be. I apologize for that. If you guys would be so kind to vote on my poll, I'd like that.**

**Thanks to:**

**PureAngelEyes - Nope! She's in a special place =)**

**Springflowerangel - Aw, thanks!**

**wolviegirl - Yes. And the chapters will be longer, I promise!**

**sandradee27 - Thanks. I tried to develop her a little bit since the last story.**

**Santa-clause-is-a-stalker - Aww, thanks. I'm glad you like it! (and I know your name has dots in it, but it wouldn't show up otherwise.)**

* * *

**Chapter Five**

**The Other World**

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After a journey of pain, a rush of emotions, and the strange sensation of slipping through something cold yet warm at the same time, the silver haired girl gasped and sat straight up. A rush of memories flashed through her head all at once.

"What?" she murmured to herself, touching her head. It ached with all of the information that was now coursing through it. She looked around, surprised to find herself in an old wooden hut. There was a fine layer of dust surrounding everything and when she moved the dust coating the bed shot up everywhere. After sneezing a few good times, the silver haired girl decided to look around.

By the bed there was a vase of dried flowers. When she went to touch the flowers, they crumbled in her hand. They seemed to be extremely old.

"Oh my." She started as the flowers were taken away by a light breeze. It was then that she noticed that she wasn't wearing the dress she had on the day before. Instead, she was wearing traditional Chinese fighting clothes. Her top was black with a silver dragon design on the back and the pants she wore were loose with silver outlines. They were made of sturdy cotton. A wrap went around her chest to make it more comfortable for her to move around, and black traditional fighting shoes were on her feet.

On the chair – it was one place that was somehow devoid of dust – there was an ornamental coat made of fine silk. It was the same coat she saw in her dreams. On top of the neatly folded coat, there was a small circlet. A tear streaked down her cheek – the leaf decorations that were on the circlet matched the small jade leaf she kept in her desk at home. Ariya slipped the circlet on and it was like slipping on an old friend. The jade leaves jingled in the wind and the silver haired girl couldn't help but let out a small sob.

She slipped the coat on and that was when she saw her staff out of the corner of her eyes. Yes, it was her staff. It was the staff that her beloved had crafted for her, but where was he? Were her dreams true? Well, there was only one way to find out, was there?

"Son WuKong…" she whispered, concentrating on her beloved's power. She felt him. He was there, but it was like his power and energy was sealed away somehow. She sighed and let another small sob escape her. He was alive, but he was trapped. This must be what her dreams had been telling her for the longest time.

Now, if she could just figure out where her brother was…but she didn't have to wonder long as she heard a high pitched scream that sounded strangely like her brother if he has been female. She snatched her staff and ran through the door to see a few figures down the worn and beaten path. She also saw another figure approaching from another direction, but he seemed to be unconscious…and riding on the back of a donkey.

Without thinking, she runs down to where her brother is defending himself quite badly. Well, he never did learn the art of Kung Fu. She sighed and pushed herself to go faster, making it in time to see several mounted guards shove their swords in his face.

"Jason!" she exclaimed skidding to a halt in front of him. The silver haired girl swung her staff into a defensive position in front of her as her brother clung to both the Monkey King's staff and the back of her jacket.

"Who are you and what do you want with my brother?" she spat out, glaring at the surprised faces of the warriors dressed in Jade.

"You! Woman! Identify yourself!" the one with the fanciest helmet demanded as he pointed his sword at her face. He had a suspicion of who she was, but she hadn't been seen for five hundred years.

"I asked you first." The silver haired girl demanded with a serious expression. She glared at the people with the weapons as hard as she could, but apparently it didn't faze any of the men in the armor.

"We are loyal warriors of the Jade Warlord. Now state your name and business." The silver haired girl started to shiver in anger. How dare the Warlord send out warriors in his name? What happened to her father? What happened after she died? Did things really change so much?

"My name is Ariya. I am the Jade Princess." She said.

"Say what?" Jason questioned, pulling back to stare at his sister. He couldn't understand the others, but he understood his sister loud and clear. The warriors on top of the horses looked at each other, shocked beyond belief, but they decided to follow their Warlord's orders.

"We have orders for your arrest. Come quietly or face the consequences." The lead warrior snarled, pulling his sword back and getting ready to strike at a moment's notice.

"If you want me, try and claim me." Ariya hissed back, jerking back to avoid the sword at the last minute. She pushed Jason down to the ground to avoid the blades of the other warriors and brought her staff up to crush the throat of the man above her, but there was no way that she was going to be able to fight seven or eight men with weapons. Especially when she was trying to protect her brother at the same time.

Fortunately, she didn't have to. The man that she saw riding the donkey backwards had fallen off and woken up. He drank something from his gourd and smiled, stumbling towards them. He hit the one that had been threatening Ariya and her brother, instigating a fight between all of them. He fought back and the silver haired female jumped into the fray after telling Jason to stay back. Soon enough, all of the warriors were down and out and the mysterious man stumbled towards them.

"Who are you? Why do you have that staff?" He asked Jason.

"What?" Jason asked before Ariya could reply.

"Can you not understand me?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I. Can't. Understand. You." Jason replied, putting emphasis on each word. The man sighed and concentrated for a minute.

"That's because you are not listening!" the mysterious man exclaimed and this time, evident by her brother's shock, Ariya could tell that Jason could understand.


	7. Lu Yan's Story

**Meh, I was expecting this to have some action in it, but I guess it will be a filler chapter. I haven't been feeling well lately, so it is a bit shorter than I would like. I apologize.**

**Thanks to:**

**wolviegurl - I'm glad you liked the chapter =)**

**Springflowerangel - Don't worry. She'll kick some butt in the next chapter.**

**sandradee27 - right, so...to answer your questions and not being too specific so that it'll ruin the story. He recognizes her aura, but she has to figure out who he is. Lu Yan has his suspicions about that, though.**

**Hidan's Girlfriend - Haha, Hidan as in Naruto's Hidan? Anyway, I'm glad that you liked the stories that much.**

**PureAngelEyes - Haha, yes. She met Lu Yan. I'm working on the next chapter, too.**

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**Chapter Six**

**Lu Yan's Story**

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Soon enough Jason, Ariya, and the drunken man ended up in a fine restaurant. Ariya had no money on her – although he supposed she could always either give up a piece of jade from her circlet or she could pull the 'I'm royalty so I don't need to pay' card, but she wasn't like that.

The restaurant was so nice that gentle music was flowing through the air, calming the otherwise excitable and near-panicking Jason. In the corner of the second floor, three women were dancing in very little clothing…or at least, it would be considered little clothing in China. Their bellies, shoulders, and arms were showing. Their outfits were nice, though. They were made of fine lavender colored silk.

Ariya sat with her brother, facing the stranger who seemed to recognize her beloved's staff. She did not know, however, if the stranger recognized her or not.

"I don't know where I am." Jason complained to the stranger. Ariya didn't want to say anything lest she further confuse her brother and make him freak out anymore than he was. The brunette teenager was good at freaking out.

"Or how I got here…or who those guys were who wanted to kill us." Jason continued, motioning towards his sister and himself. "But whatever you did back there was sick." His sister punched his shoulder – they were sitting on pillow-mats so it would have been hard to kick him – and gave him a warning glance.

"No. Drunken Fist." Ariya's eyes darted towards the stranger. He was sitting in a relaxed position and seemed to be enjoying quite a bit of wine. She didn't know exactly what kind it was – if they were in Japan she would have called it Sake if it were made of rice.

"Secret Kung Fu of the south." The stranger continued to explain. The silver haired woman remained silent, wanting to know exactly how much he knew. Fortunately, they were able t learn his name.

"I'm Lu Yan, traveling scholar." He said as he chewed on some food and lifted his glass of wine to his lips. "What land do you come from, Monk? And you, woman? You dress of high ranking."

If it had been a less serious situation Ariya would have laughed. There was no way that Jason could actually pull off being a monk.

"I'm not a monk." Jason laughed as he pointed to himself. "My name is Jason…Jason Tripitikas from south Boston." He then turned to Ariya, "This is my big sister, Ariya."

The mentioning of her name seemed to spark a bit of recognition in Lu Yan's eyes.

"Is this a dream?" Jason asked, leaning forward as he looked at the scholar's eyes. Ariya snorted and smacked her brother on the back of the head.

"No, doofus."

"No. Where you came from is the dream." Lu Yan explained as Ariya nodded. Jason turned a questioning gaze to his sister.

"And how do you know this?" he questioned her in an angry tone.

"Because, Jason, I've been here before." She murmured in a sad tone. She refused to answer any more of his questions and turned back to the drinking man in front of them.

"You come through the Gate of No Gate." Lu Yan continued after a few seconds.

"What, is that a wormhole or something?" Jason asked. Ariya's eyebrow twitched again.

"He's not going to know what a wormhole is, little brother." The silver haired woman told him.

"No. It means that either you are a Zen Master…or you carry something very special." The eating man explained, pointing to the Monkey King's staff. He turned to Ariya, expecting her to answer his question.

"Hitokiri belongs to me." was her simple answer and Lu Yan's eyes narrowed again.

"If it belongs to you then you are either a thief or you are the fabled Jade Princess." Lu Yan mused, eyes glittering as the silver haired girl's mouth twitched into a smile.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's the Jade Princess?"

"Not now, Jason. Let the man explain about the staff." Ariya said, shooting her brother a glare.

"This? You know where I got this. It was waiting in a pawn shop, waiting for someone to…return it to its rightful owner…" he said, not liking the look in the other man's eyes.

"What?" Jason asked, looking between his sister and the man sitting in front of him.

"It's long been foretold that a Seeker will come to return the staff and end the reign of the Jade Warlord." As Lu Yan said this, Ariya's eyes snapped to him and hardened. So, the Jade Warlord has been causing trouble? This was no surprise to her.

"Return the staff to who?" Jason asked, becoming totally engrossed in the story that Lu Yan was telling them.

"The Monkey King." Ariya jumped in with a small sigh. She remembered everything – just seeing the staff of her beloved was paying a great toll on her. It meant that he was weak and he was in need of her…yet how was she to know where he was?

"Born of stone, on the Mountain of Fruit and Flowers, with his weapon in hand his chi became like fire. His stick fighting like magic. He defied order of the land." Lu Yan told his story while Ariya's face broke into a smile. This was the man that she remembered and the one who held her heart.

"But the Jade Army couldn't defeat him." the silver haired woman said as she fondly remembered the way that the Monkey King would fight. It was like a game to him, but whenever Ariya was in danger, his playfulness turned into an icy exterior.

"The Monkey King crushed every soldier sent to stop him. With his magical staff, he was unbeatable. Word of his disobedience travelled deep within the Forbidden Kingdom – to the Five Elements Mountain, Land of the Immortals. Once every five hundred years the Jade Emperor hosts the Peach Banquet, but this particular year was special. The Jade Princess had come back to the palace after being sent away for her safety." Ariya smiled slightly as Lu Yan sent her a pointed look. It was interesting hearing her being talked about in a legend.

"It was there that the Heavenly Ministers gather to celebrate the longevity and drink the Elixir of Immortality. One sip of this heavenly brew will give everlasting life, free from mortal suffering and desire." He said with a strange sparkle in his eye, "Into the banquet, the Monkey King crashed, uninvited except by the Princess' request. She and the Monkey King had developed a friendship. The Jade Emperor was enchanted by the Monkey King, but the Jade Warlord was not amused. As master of the army, he demanded that the Monkey King bow down to him." Ariya knew that this had not happened. Actually, the opposite was what happened, but it wasn't like Jason would know that she knew what had happened.

"Satisfied that all was well, in Heaven and Earth, the supremely high Emperor left to begin his five hundred years meditation, leaving the Jade Warlord in charge by Mandate of Heaven. But, rather than obey the Jade Emperor's command the Warlord had the Princess kidnapped and challenged the Monkey King to a duel. It was because the Monkey King and the Princess had fallen in love while the Warlord wanted her for her body.

"High upon Five Elements Mountain, in the Warlord's Palace, the battle of immortals was fought to prove once and for all whose skills were supreme. The Princess was held captive and tied to the wall and, during the battle, she was murdered by the Warlord. She was not immortal, not having drunk the Elixir of Immortality, and so she was able to die. This was after he had agreed to fight fist with fist with the Warlord – he was too trusting and believed the Warlord's words that he would fight without his magic weapon. Realizing he had been tricked, he thrust his staff, and Hitokiri, out into the Middle Kingdom.

"Being immortal, the Monkey King could not be killed. Instead, he turned to stone."

Ariya had been listening to the story with tears in her eyes. She turned to her brother as a tear trailed down her face.

"Whatever we do, Jason, we have to release Son WuKong."


	8. Fight Time

**Okay, I know this was short and I know I said I was giong to have it up like last week, but I had my final exam in my first summer class on Tuesday. I had no idea how hard it was going to be so I kind of stopped writing all of my fics altogether and studied my ass off.**

**I was also rewriting a book I wrote a while ago. I'm hoping to send some letters to some agents and see if they'll accept it by January...lol so far I've edited about 36 pages out of like 240 pages on Microsoft Word. **

**Thanks to:**

**amychan3638 - Well, I'm glad you like the story so far. Thanks for the review!**

**wolviegurl - Yup. Jason is starting to understand things.**

**Hidan's Girlfriend - Haha Hidan is pretty cool. My favorite Akatsuki characters are Deidara and Tobi. (the crazy funny Tobi and not the bloodthirsty Tobi)**

**Springflowerangel - Aww, well I'm sorry that I almost made you cry lol**

**PureAngelEyes - I love the Silent Monk almost as much as The Monkey King =D**

**sandradee27 - haha you're not an annoying reviewer. I heart your reviews. **

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

**Fight Time**

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Their conversation was now over, but the man, Lu Yan, kept eating and drinking his wine.

"That's what I heard, anyway." He said as he chewed his food.

"You heard correctly." Ariya said with a hand over her mouth. She still couldn't believe that her beloved Monkey King was now trapped in stone. It brought tears to her eyes, but more so than ever, the silver haired Princess was determined. She was determined to save her lover and she was determined to put the Jade Warlord in his place once and for all.

"How long has he been imprisoned?" Jason asked while giving his sister a weird look. Why was she behaving like this? Did it have to do with what happened before she went to live with him? Jason didn't know much about her life before she came to live with him and their mother, but he knew that she had a hard time because of it.

"Five hundred years." The man before them said as he drank more wine, "Give or take a few decades." He continued before taking another bite out of his meat bun. "They say when the Monkey King is free the Jade Emperor will return and the Jade Princess will return as well." Lu Yan continued to calmly answer Jason's questions.

"How do we get home?"

"Do you really want to go home, Jason?" his sister asked him with a strange look on her face. Jason didn't know it then, but Ariya didn't know if she wanted to return home. If they were successful in their adventure, then she wanted to stay here with her beloved Monkey King.

"You must return the staff to Five Elements Mountain." He said, leaning forward so that Jason could hear him, "You must free the Monkey King."

"I can't free the Monkey King. We gotta get home." Jason said, ignoring Ariya's former comment. He still thought that his big sister would do whatever he wanted her to do. It was true when they were living in their time, back in the United States, but not when she was so close to what made her happy. Not when she was so close to her beloved lover.

"Innkeeper!" Lu Yan called, holding up his jug, "More wine."

"Jeeze, don't you think you've had one too many?" Jason said, gaping at the fighter sitting in front of him. The silver haired Princess shook her head. Obviously, Jason didn't know much about the culture around here.

"Wine is my inspiration. In some parts I am known as a poet. Kanpei." He said, saluting the two siblings with the cup full of wine. "In other parts I am known as a beggar." Lu Yan said as the owner came over with their bill. Jason and Ariya searched their clothing. Unfortunately, Ariya only had a couple of coins. It wasn't enough to cover the bill. Jason only had American money. He put a couple of bills of American money on top of the bill and smiled nervously at the owner. Lu Yan nodded as the owner looked at him with a strange expression. The man got up and spoke to a woman, most likely his wife, before he spotted a few Jade Soldiers walking his way. The man rushed over to them and started to explain the situation.

"What do we do?" Jason asked in a frantic voice. Ariya grabbed her staff, ready for a fight while Lu Yan questioned her brother in his Kung Fu skills. Jason blanched and the other man misinterpreted his answer.

"Ah, he who speaks does not know. He who knows does not speak. Surely, you are a master of Fu." He said with a grin before the three of them rose. The soldiers approached them with a no-nonsense attitude.

"Where did you get that from?" the guard asked, motioning to Jason's staff. The staff of the Monkey King.

"It's fake. You can find anything nowadays on the Silk Road." Lu Yan tried to fib, but the guard was not having any of it.

"Out of my way, old fool." He said, pushing Lu Yan out of the way.

"Hand it over." The guard then said to Jason.

"Leave him alone." Ariya said but the guard just backhanded her across the cheek. She had not been expecting that. She was not used to how men acted in ancient China after she had been living in the United States for the longest time.

"Hand over the weapon or die." The guard said again. This time he was actually threatening the teenager. He slowly withdrew his sword and Ariya stepped closer to her brother. With a look from Lu Yan, Jason threw him the staff. He, in turn, threw the wine bottle at the guard. He caught it with a surprised look and Lu Yan took the opportunity to smash the staff in the guard's face.

He kicked the table up and it hit another guard in the face. Ariya pulled her brother behind her and used her staff to hit three guards in the face and chest. She kicked up and hit another one in the back, pushing him into three other guards. She didn't like this – she was not used to fighting in such closed spaces. It was too crowded here and the silver haired Princess was worried that other innocent people would get hurt.

Jason huddled in the corner as Lu Yan picked up his gourd holding his alcohol. He threw it in a guard's face, catching it as it rebounded.

"Go!" Ariya exclaimed as she pushed him down the stairs. He stopped short, but she ran into him. He fell forward, but she caught the back of his shirt, falling forward as well until Lu Yan caught the back of her jacket. The warrior pulled them back just in time for Jason to not have his face slashed through. Jason landed on a small table as Lu Yan kicked the guards back down the stairs. Ariya kicked a guard in the face and punched one in the stomach before stabbing one in the side with her staff. Lu Yan and she made a great team.

Lu Yan continued to fight with the Monkey King's staff while Jason crouched behind him. Suddenly, by accident, the warrior pushed Jason off of the landing they were on. Ariya screamed and tried to help her brother back onto the landing, but she, along with Lu Yan were forced to jump down to the lower level.

Ariya bit her lip. This wasn't going good at all.


	9. Author's Note

I apologize to all of my readers and fans, but this is what I feel like I have to do. Either I'm going to let someone take over my stories, or I'm going to delete all of them with the intention on reposting some heavily edited (some not heavily edited) stories. I'm going to repost one at a time and I've decided on posting my Naruto story first. I will put up a new poll asking people to vote on the one they want me to work on after I finish the Naruto story.

The reason why I haven't posted in the last year or so is difficult to explain, but a rough summary would be that I was Saved by the Lord and I found a wonderful relationship with the man of my dreams. I've been working on some original stuff and I hope to have some stuff published in the future.

Thank you for being so understanding.


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